HW Recap: Almost there

[Habsfan84]

The Habs, despite a pair of less than impressive efforts this week, continue to be in the hunt for top seed in the East. Unfortunately, the Bulldogs weren't so lucky, dropping all 3 of their contests, slipping to 4th in their division. The stat of the week looks at shooting accuracy, while the Final Thought segment discusses how clinching the playoffs could mean very little, plus the weekly grades, in the Recap.

Player Grades

The ratings:
8.5 - 10: Player has exceeded expectations for the week, very strong contributions.
6.5 - 8: Player has met expectations for the week, play has helped or at worse, not hurt the lineup.
5 - 6: Player has performed below expectations for the week, play has at best not hurt the team, but likely has had a negative affect.
Under 4.5: Player has had a week to forget, questions should soon be arising about his future with the organization.

Goalies:

#41 - Jaroslav Halak: 9.0 Yes, he did get a shutout, but he was fighting the puck most of the night and rarely looked confident on the ice. (Season Average: 7.88)

#31 - Carey Price: 8.5 Great vs the Devils, but a pair of the Ottawa goals were caused by a lack of focus either following the play or controlling the rebound. (Season Average: 7.67)

Defence:

#44 - Roman Hamrlik: 8.0 Was the most consistent defender again this week, and that's impressive considering he spent time with Brisebois. (Season Average: 7.35)

#79 - Andrei Markov: 7.5 He's pinching way too much on the PP, effectively neutralizing his above average shot from the point. (Season Average: 7.44)

#8 - Mike Komisarek: 7.5 Kept things more simple this week, but still has a ways to go to get back to the form that has him the highest rated defenceman in the grades. (Season Average: 7.50)

#26 - Josh Gorges: 7.0 We saw more of him being interviewed than on the ice this week it seemed, nothing overly spectacular or wrong with his play. (Season Average: 6.91)

#51 - Francis Bouillon: 7.0 His physical play has really picked up lately, the only thing I'm concerned with is his durability - is he going to be able to keep it up in the playoffs? (Season Average: 7.00)

#3 - Ryan O'Byrne: 7.0 Still the odd mistake in terms of decision making, but that's to be expected...as long as the mistakes aren't frequent, he'll stay in the lineup. (Season Average: 6.67)

#71 - Patrice Brisebois: 6.0 To put it nicely, there was never a dull moment when he was on the ice, I'll leave it at that. (Season Average: 6.65)

Forwards:

#6 - Tom Kostopoulos: 8.0 Bar none, his best week as a member of the Montreal Canadiens, a threat at both ends of the rink, often generating high quality scoring chances. (Season Average: 6.80)

#11 - Saku Koivu: 7.5 I know some people are still down on him, but right now, he's playing as good as he has all season. (Season Average: 7.29)

#14 - Tomas Plekanec: 7.5 Lately, he seems to be passing off way too often, sometimes taking himself out of good shooting range. (Season Average: 7.73)

#46 - Andrei Kostitsyn: 7.5 It's tempting to just say 'Ditto Plekanec', but I can't - I can say that he had another solid week though. (Season Average: 7.44)

#73 - Michael Ryder: 7.5 He's still not completely "back" yet, but over the last month, Ryder has easily played his best hockey...only thing left to do is score. (Season Average: 6.81)

#74 - Sergei Kostitsyn: 7.5 The goals weren't there, but he was making plays for others, so it works out fine in the end. (Season Average: 7.25)

#84 - Guillaume Latendresse: 7.0 I'm curious to see how long he stays with Koivu this time, you can't argue with production - it's the lack of that the rest of the week that hurts him here. (Season Average: 6.75)

#40 - Maxim Lapierre: 7.0 A surprise scratch on Saturday, it certainly wasn't from a lack of hustle, but if the team wants to go to 3 offensive lines, he's in trouble. (Season Average: 6.77)

#27 - Alexei Kovalev: 7.0 Sloppy penalties and overhandling the puck - I think he's trying to overcompensate for his injury, I think a day or two off would go a long way to help him return to form. (Season Average: 7.90)

#54 - Mikhail Grabovski: 7.0 Decent outing Saturday, but I still can't quite see how he's going to help this team in the playoffs when the physical play really picks up. (Season Average: 6.75)

#21 - Chris Higgins: 7.0 At least his goal slump hasn't stopped him from shooting, but the rest of the game needs to get going soon. (Season Average: 7.50)
#20 - Bryan Smolinski: 7.0 Fluky or not, that was a key goal against the Devils to go along with another ordinary week from the veteran. (Season Average: 6.90)

#32 - Mark Streit: 6.5 Anyone else think he's pouting about not being used on defence? I can't think of any other logical reason for the heavy decline in his play lately. (Season Average: 7.04)

Week's Average: 7.32
Season Average: 7.20

Final Thought

Whenever the little 'x' goes by the Canadiens name (to say they're officially in the playoffs), there's going to be little time for celebrating, and even less time to rest some of the veterans (ie: Kovalev & Koivu.) With the Northeast Division and really, the top echelon of the Eastern Conference so tight, jockeying for position will be more critical than before. A small winning streak at the end may get the club a division title and a 1st round matchup with one of the teams they've had success against this year (Boston or Philadelphia - if they can stay in), while a mini losing streak may cost them home ice advantage and see them get a less than desirable opponent in Pittsburgh or New Jersey. The regular season record notwithstanding, I know I certainly don't want to have the Devils as a 1st round opponent. In the West, we see Detroit slowing down after clinching the playoffs (an annual event), but the same luxury can't be afforded to the Habs, or really any other team in the upper half of the East. I'm sure we'll all celebrate when the team clinches (which could come towards the end of this week), but the way things are shaping up, it may be the only thing that gets celebrated for a while.